Peiriant - Dychwelyd

Released: July 5

The second album from Welsh drone folk duo Peiriant, Dychwelyd is a deeply and intimate listen that relies less on complex layering or polished production and more upon capturing the raw and authentic sound of the duo's cultural heritage. These classical folk roots reveal themselves through the sounds of the violin. The almost mournful sounds evoke all of the images of shared culture among the Welsh and Irish. I can't comment too much on this as I am only familiar with the broadest strokes of these cultures from popular media. But these deep rooted influences are melded together with various electronics, loops, samples, and electric guitar to create some rather inventive and unique soundscapes. 

Our opening track only gives us slight glimpses of the folk influences while allowing the guitar and droning electronics to lead the track until it is joined by the violin at the very end. But the very next track, "Gors," gives wide berth to violin to playful solemnly and sincerely while slow rising drones build up an atmosphere of tension and unease that is only broken once the strings come fully into the picture. Among my favorite tracks on this album is "C​â​n Idris," which really comes down to the melody played out by the violin. It is simultaneously beautiful and uplifting while also having something distinctly dramatic and somewhat sad about it as well. It feels like so many feeling wrapped up in a single melody and is well accompanied by the guitar that appears to be playing a counter melody of sorts that changes along with the violin at the end to come more into unison with it as the song comes to a close. 

This album is quite the experience. It successfully combines a number of differing ideas by including elements of drone and ambient with the classic Welsh musical stylings in a format that consistently changes slightly from track to track. Some of the songs lean farther into the folk aspects while others veer into the more electronic and experimental aspects. In some cases, such as the final track "Spoons," all of these elements blend together seamlessly and the result feels closer to a post-rock vibe than anything else. It comes across beautifully and has a certain charm and authenticity to it that hasn't the slight bit of pretension to it. A beautiful album all around.